System for cleaning ginned cotton prior to baling



INVENTOR filfigyJ/l/Me ATTORNEYS SYSTEM FOR CLEANING GINNED COTTON PRIORTO BALING Flled May 15 1955 TRUNK ll/Vf A nus Fkom BAIIEAYWG/NS J, J.WALLACE I I I i May 29, 1956 United States Patent SYSTEM FOR CLEANINGGINNED CGTTGN PRIOR T0 BALENG Application May 13, 1955, Serial No. %,?39

3 Claims. (Cl. 19--67) This invention relates to a system for cleaningginned cotton prior to baling, and tea cotton cleaner per separticularly designed to serve in. said system.

The conventional precleaners individual to the gins are, .in general,inadequate to clean dirty cotton such as that which is pickedmechanically, so that supplemental cleaning following ginning isessential. This may be accomplished by providing each gin of the batterywith an individual post-cleaner, or by providing a suitable singlecleaner to take care of the aggregate output of the entire battery ofgins. The latter alternative is the most practical, for the need forpost-gin cleaning envisions the equipping of practically all g in plantsnow in being with supplementary cleaning apparatus, and aside from theprohibitive cost of individual cleaners, one for each gin, the layout ofmost plants is so crowded that there is no room for the installation ofindividual post-gin cleaners.

The prior art suggests the association of cleaning apparatus with thetrunk lint flue at a point between the battery of gins to the batterycondenser, but the presence of the fly trash which contaminates thevehicle air in the trunk lint flue creates a problem which is notencountered in the cleaning system contemplated by the presentinvention.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a system whichincludes the conventional battery of gins equipped with precleaners, thetrunk lint flue leading from the gins to the battery condenser, and,following the battery condenser but anterior to the press, asupplemental cleaner to which lint cotton from the battery condenser issupplied without vehicle air, the thus re-cleaned lint being conveyed ina vehicle of clean air to a supplemental condenser from which it ischuted or otherwise delivered to the press. Such a system wouldlogically provide for the selective use of the supplemental cleaner orthe bypassing of the same in cases in which the lint cotton from thegins is suiliciently clean to call for no further cleaning treatment.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a post-gin cleanerparticularly designed to be integrated in a system such as abovedescribed.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a condenser unitper se, combining in a single compact structure the primary batterycondenser, the supplementary condenser and the conduit connectionbetween said condensers and the adjunctive instrumentalities of thesystem, including the selective means for utilizing both condensers orsolely the battery condenser.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following descriptionof a practical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawing which accompanies and forms a part of the followingspecification, and throughout the figures ice of which the samereference characters have been used to denote identical parts:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view in end elevation, illustrating thesystem of post-gin lint cleaning comprised in the present invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section through the supplementallint cleaner.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, the numeral 1 represents thetrunk lint flue from a battery of gins, not shown, which delivers thelint to the battery condenser 2, which as shown, may be of the cylindertype, against the cylinder 3 of which the lint impinges as air is drawnthrough the perforated walls of the cylinder by suction means, notshown, but which is old in the art. In the conventional system the lintis scraped from the surface of the cylinder and chuted gravitationallythrough the chute 4 to the press 5. In the subject invention, the cottonmay be diverted by shifting the valve 6 to the dotted line positionshown, so as to flow through the by-pass conduit 7 to the lint cleaner 8of the present invention, where the cotton is subjected to supplementalcleaning, and then delivered in a column of clean vehicle air throughthe lint duct 9 to the supplemental condenser 10, which may be similarto the condenser 2. In this condenser the vehicle air is dissipated, thecotton scraped from the cylinder and chuted without the benefit ofvehicle air, through the duct 11 into the shute 4 to the press.

In view of the fact that the cotton is delivered to the press withoutbenefit of vehicle air, that is, ordinarily by gravity, both condensersare at a higher level than the press, and the supplemental, condenser 10is above the battery condenser 2.

Due to the restricted available space in the average gin plant, it maybe preferred to combine the two condensers into a single unit with theconnection substantially as shown in Figure l.

Referring now to the details of construction of the lint cleaner 8, asshown in Figure 2, there is a casing 12 enclosing the various parts,having an inlet opening at the top right, as shown, with which the lowerend of the conduit 7 communicates. It will be understood that the lowerend of said conduitis expanded widthwise into a transition, the fullwidth of the cotton handling elements of the cleaner. This transition isindicated at 1'3, and has a mouth 14 at its lower end, which overlies aslat conveyor 15 riding upon rollers 16, one of which is driven. Thecotton covers the underlying portion of the conveyor 15 widthwise, andis carried by rotation of the conveyor into the space 17, .between thesmooth surfaced driven roll 18 and the adjacent end of the conveyor. Theroll 18 rotates counterclockwise, as viewed in Figure 2, and createsmovement among the flocks of cotton in the space 17, effecting someuniformityin the lateral distribution of the cotton in said space, andfrictionally moving that part with which it comes into contact upwardlyinto nipping relation to the corrugated driven roll 19. The cotton isfed between the rolls 18 and 19, the latter roll travelling at a speedsomewhat in excess of that of the roll 18, so that the cotton is drawnand compressed into a bat and moved onto the smooth upper surface 29 ofa fixed feed plate 21 and into feeding relation with the corrugatedsurface of the driven roll 22. The shape of the forward portion of thesurface 20 of the feed plate 21 substantially follows the curvature ofthe roll 22. The speed of rotation of the roll 22 is greater than thatof the adjacent roll 19, so that the bat travelling against the surface20 of the feed plate is still further drawn out, thinned, and madeuniform and propelled in a forward direction until it fiows over thenose 23 at the front of the plate 21. A toothed cylinder 24 rotates athigh speed with its circumference in proximity to the nose 23, and drawsthe bat downward along the upper front face of the feed plate 21, theteeth of the cylinder 24 at the same time snatching cotton from the batso that while it is continually fed over the nose 23 in the form of abat, it terminates in a fringe against the front face 25 of the feedplate. The speed of rotation of the cylinder 24 is so great that only afew fibers are caught by each tooth, resulting in very thoroughcleaning.

Below the lower arc of the toothed cylinder 24 the casing 12 is shapedso as to constitute two discharge hoppers 26 and 27, the first mentionedbeing closest to the feed plate 21, for receiving larger trash, Whilethe other is for the smaller motes or trash. At the upper part of thehopper 26 and close to the circumference of the toothed cylinder 24 area series of spaced cleaning bars 28. These are formed so as to presentan acute angled edge in the path of the oncoming lint standing outcentrifugally from the cylinder 24. The lint contacts the acute anglededges successively, the impact as well as the brushing contact of saidedges with the lint, dislodging the trash, which falls into the hopper.

At the top of the hopper 27 there are a plurality of spaced bars 29extending transversely across the cleaner differing from the bars 28 inthat they present a right angled edge to the cotton 0n the cylinder 24,and therefore, act more gently upon the cotton, since the greater partof the trash has been removed by the bars 28 and the fibers conditionedby a sort of carding action imparted by their contact with the bars 28,so that they do not require so vigorous a treatment for the dislodgmentof the smaller pin trash. In the lower parts of the hoppers 26 and 27are drag belts, respectively 30 and 31, upon which the trash collects,and by which it is withdrawn from the hoppers and suitably discharged.The value of having two hoppers is that considerable lint may drop withthe trash in the first hopper, which can later be separated from thetrash by means which are not within the purview of the subjectinvention.

The cleaned cotton carried past the hopper 27 upon the teeth of thecylinder 23 encounters a dofiing cylinder 32, which preferably isclothed with wire teeth bent at a reverse angle, the adjacent arcs ofsaid toothed cylinder and doffing cylinder rotating in the samedirection, but the dofiing cylinder at a greater speed, so that the lintis removed from the cylinder 24 without becoming attached to the teethof the doffing cylinder. The doffing cylinder is within the mouthportion of the lint duct 9. Said conduit has air inlets 34 and 35 aboveand below the point at which the dofiing cylinder lies substantiallytangent to the cylinder 24. The air inlet 34 terminates in an upturnednozzle 36, which induces an air blast blowing in the direction ofmovement of the upper arc of the doffing cylinder, and assisting incarrying cotton into the lint duct 9. The air inlet 35 forms a nozzledirected toward the point of tangency between the doffing cylinder andcylinder 24, and assists in removing the lint from the teeth of thelatter cylinder. The casing 12 is provided with a door 33 above the bat,forming rolls, and a door 37 above the doffing cylinder 32.

While I have in the above description defined what I have found to be apractical embodiment of the invention, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that the specific details of construction andarrangement of parts, as shown, are by way of example and not to beconstrued as limiting the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. System for post-gin cleaning of cotton comprising the followingsequence of cotton handling instrumentalities in the followingpositional relationship, the trunk lint flue from a battery of gins, thebattery condenser, the press, and a supplemental lint cleaner andsupplemental condenser between said battery condenser and press, saidsupplemental lint cleaner being at low level, said battery condenserbeing above said press and said supplemental condenser being above saidbattery condenser, said trunk lint flue being connected to said batterycondenser, a downwardly inclined chute from said battery condenser tosaid press, a valve in said chute, a downwardly inclined chute from saidsupplemental condenser connected into said battery condenser chute atthe pressward side of said valve and a downwardly inclined chute fromsaid battery condenser to said supplemental lint cleaner at the oppositeside of said valve, said valve being movable from a position closingcommunication between said battery condenser chute and the chute to saidsupplemental lint cleaner, to a position closing said battery condenserchute and opening the chute so said supplemental lint cleaner, and asuction conduit from said supplemental lint cleaner to said supplementalcondenser open to atmosphere at said supplemental lint cleaner.

2. Post-gin lint cleaning apparatus comprising a casing, an inletthereto at the top adjacent one end adapted to receive cotton from abattery condenser without vehicle air, a bat-forming unit within saidcasing comprising cooperating driven rolls and a feed plate, a beltconveyor, a chute from said inlet having a discharge mouth above saidconveyor, the latter delivering cotton from said chute to saidbat-forming unit, certain of the rolls of said bat-forming unit coactingwith said feed plate to push the bat continuously over the front end ofsaid plate, a driven toothed cylinder within said casing having itsforward arc adjacent the front end of said feed plate and rotatabledownwardly with the teeth directed so as to pull the bat down againstsaid front end and snatch fibers from said bat, adjacent respectivecoarse and fine trash hoppers beneath the lower arc of said toothedcylinder, the coarse trash hopper being adjacent said feed plate,arcuate series of cleaning bars extending across the mouths of saidhoppers parallel to the axis of said toothed cylinder, positionedsubstantially contiguous to the periphery of said toothed cylinder, thebars across the coarse trash hopper having acute angled leading edgesengageable with the cotton fibers extending from said toothed cylinderand those across the fine trash hopper having leading edges of largerangularity, drag belts at the bottoms of both hoppers, a doffingcylinder within said casing contiguous to said toothed cylinder at theside thereof opposite said feed plate, a suction flue surrounding saiddofiing cylinder adapted to be connected to a condenser, having airinlets at both sides of the point of tangency of said dofiing cylinderand said toothed cylinder.

3. Lint cleaner comprising a casing, an inlet therein at the topadjacent one end, a conduit communicating with said inlet for deliveringlint cotton to said cleaner, a batforming unit within said cleanercomprising a group of driven rolls and a feed plate, said groupincluding a lower smooth roll, and above said smooth roll a pair ofcorrugated rolls laterally juxtaposed, one of which rotates close to theperiphery of said smooth roll and the other of which rotates close tothe upper surface of said feed plate, both providing spaces betweenwhich the bat passes and is reduced, a substantially horizontal belttype conveyor beneath said conduit for receiving cotton therefrom anddelivering it to said bat-forming unit, the front end of said conveyorbeing laterally contiguous to said smooth roll forming therewith acotton receiving trough from which cotton is elevated by said smoothroll to the overlying corrugated roll and passed by the latter to saidfeed plate, the other corrugated roll cooperating with said feed plateto continuously push the bat over the front end of said feed plate, adriven toothed cylinder within said casing peripherally substantiallycontiguous to the front edge of said feed plate for snatching fibersfrom the end of said bat, cleaning bars substantially contiguous to thetoothed cylinder in its lower arc in the path of fibers standing outcentrifugally from said toothed cylinder, a doifing cylinder Within saidcasing substantially tangent to said toothed cylinder at the sidethereof opposite said feed plate, and a suction flue surrounding saiddofiing cylinder adapted to lead to a condenser, and an air inlet forsaid suction flue adjacent the point of substantial tangency of saiddofling cylinder to said toothed cylinder terminating in a nozzleconstructed to direct incoming air past said doffing cylinder in thedirection of rotation thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

